Consider this: millennials and Gen Z folks are the most diverse in history. In the last 40 years, as these generations have entered the workforce, the percentage of white workers in the U.S. has declined from 83% to 63%. The rise of conversation about diversity and inclusion at work has been happening for a long time, but it’s reached an apex … [Read more...]
How to Negotiate Virtually
Virtual negotiation is one of those things people either love or hate. And whether it’s about negotiating for a job or brokering a deal, there’s a lot more of it happening via videoconferencing and email these days. One recent study found that we’re significantly worse at reading emotions over email. This is not surprising. And reading … [Read more...]
Spruce up your professional presence online
Suddenly experiencing a lot of downtime? This is a great time to spruce up your virtual professional presence. It’s a step you can take right now to influence the future of your professional career. The past few years online presence has become more and more central to professional reputation. Here’s where to begin: LinkedIn. When was the … [Read more...]
Soft Skills and the Future of Work
Workers are getting softer. Softer-skilled, that is. As automation becomes increasingly ingrained across lines of business, employees who excel at critical soft skills are balancing out the use of machines to achieve basic tasks and traditional manual labor. According to a McKinsey report, the three most in-demand buckets of soft skills … [Read more...]
Does your team have an accountability problem?
Is “lack of accountability” really a thing? Melissa Raffoni, CEO of The Raffoni Group, cautions leaders to use this phrase sparingly. While saying “we need more accountability,” is often intended to light a fire under people, it can have other consequences — like making people feel threatened. Besides which, it’s rare that people are … [Read more...]
Steve Jobs theory about what makes a great leader
"My dog ate that report.” When a child makes excuses, it can be cute. When an adult does, it’s not. Likewise, as a company leader in any capacity, you’re probably used to not making excuses. The legend of Steve Jobs endures in a recent book by John Rossman, Think Like Amazon. According to the book, Jobs had a habit of telling employees a … [Read more...]
A beginner’s guide to working from home without driving yourself and your family crazy
For some people, working from home is a dream. For others, it’s their worst nightmare. For a lot of us right now, it’s a reality, whether we like it or not. A lot of people really fear the lack of boundaries that working from home can imply. Let’s turn to an “expert” for advice — someone who has worked at home, by choice, for … [Read more...]
The Lesson in the Shoes
Two shoe salesmen travel to a rural Indian village to investigate market potential. The first comes back dejected: “There’s no potential there. Nobody wears shoes.” The second comes back elated: “There’s so much potential there! No one has shoes!” Point is, a single business challenge can be looked at in more than one way. When you’re … [Read more...]
The philosophy student and the chair
Do you overthink everything? In the early 2000s a parable circulated about a philosophy professor who gave his students a challenge. He lifted his chair onto his desk and assigned them to “prove that this chair does not exist.” Silence ensued as the students furiously wrote long explanations on paper — all except one student, who took just a … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Kill Your Dreams
How to kill your dreams: Count on overnight success. Think someone else has the answers you need.Decide to settle when growth is guaranteed.Assume failure is someone else’s fault.Believe that the only things that matter are the dreams themselves. This is a playbook by Brazilian entrepreneur and author Bel Pesce. Her advice for reaching your … [Read more...]
